With the Nov. 5 mid-term election fast approaching, the U.S. Supreme Court could limit mail-in ballots from being counted after in-person voting ends even if they are postmarked by Election Day.
On March 23, the court seemed prepared to overturn a Mississippi state law allowing a five-day counting grace period in Watson v. Republican National Committee, according to SCOTUSblog.
An adverse ruling could negatively affect an Illinois law allowing a 14-day grace period for counting mail-in ballots; the Supreme Court ruling is expected in June or July, just in time to affect voting during the November mid-term elections.
State Sen. Mike Porfirio (D-11th) said Illinois’ strong track record of vote-by-mail protections will continue.
“As elected officials and public servants, we should want everybody to have the opportunity to vote and have their voices heard,” he said.
In 2021, SB 825 made voting by mail permanent, creating polling places across the state and increased cybersecurity standards for elections.
The bill also granted sheriffs outside Cook County the capability to create polling places at county jails to give incarcerated persons the right to vote, according to the Vedette, a newspaper in Will County published by Southwest Regional Publishing.
HB 4488, passed in May 2024, expanded vote-by-mail rights to eligible voters living in veterans homes and nursing and mental health facilities, Porfirio said.
“We should continue to look at what we can do on the state level to ensure everyone’s right to vote,” he said.
The Illinois State Board of Elections’ preparation plans for an adverse high court ruling include helping local election authorities communicate the new vote-by-mail ballot deadline directly to voters by using social and traditional media, messaging on voter applications and on vote-by-mail-ballots received by voters, Illinois Board of Elections Officer Matt Dietrich said in a statement to the Southwest News Herald.
“As we did ahead of the March 17 primary, we’ll also encourage voters to use secure drop boxes or personal delivery to an election authority to return their ballots as an alternative to the postal service,” the statement added.
Mail-in voting opponents continue fighting to eliminate vote-by-mail grace periods and in one case, won the ability to sue keeping the possibility of vote-by-mail litigation alive.
A January 2026 ruling by the Supreme Court allowed an Illinois House member to bring a lawsuit based on his allegation that counting mail-in-ballots during the 14-day mail-in ballot grace period as long as the ballot was postmarked by Election Day, caused him harm.
U.S. Rep. Mike Bost (R-12th) said in his lawsuit that Illinois’ existing mail-in-ballot grace period caused him expenditure of additional campaign resources due to his having to monitor an additional two weeks past Election Day, also potentially reducing his lead in the election.
The Supreme Court ruling said Bost was not harmed due to his 2020 election win with 60% of the vote but he has the right to challenge election laws because of his status as a candidate.
Declining to rule on the merits of Bost’s case, the congressman was granted “standing” to file a lawsuit allowing his legal challenge to continue in the lower federal court system.
The unfavorable-to-Bost judgment by Illinois’ 7th Circuit Court of Appeals was reversed and remanded for further proceedings.
Ald. Ray Lopez (15th) has a different take on voting-by-mail, arguing there are misconceptions about the method itself and who or what is to blame.
Counting postmarked ballots by Election Day is a method that is uniformly accepted nationwide with the grace period allowance becoming a frequent sticking point, he said.
“Candidates who don’t win outright overwhelmingly always seem to get frustrated having to wait and see how votes are trickling in after the election,” Lopez said. “There’s nothing nefarious with that in and of itself.”
Like filing taxes by mail before midnight on April 15, it’s the postmark that matters, he said.
“As long as the ballot arrives before 7 p.m. on Election Day, it is the postmark that matters, just like when you file your taxes,” Lopez said. “If your taxes are postmarked by April 15 before midnight, you are free and clear with the IRS.”
Lopez doesn’t think fighting over the postmark is the issue to be fought over.
He believes ballots not postmarked in a timely manner is the real question, placing the current battle over counting mail-in-ballots as legal votes squarely on the shoulders of the federal government, he said.
“The failure of the United States Post Office to postmark the day you bring something to them is the issue,” Lopez said. “If ballots are delayed because they’re sitting in a pile of envelopes waiting to be processed, you have no idea if they showed up in time or not.”
He believes vote-by-mail ballot sticking points at the U.S. Post Office are not a deliberate plot to undermine democracy, he said.
“It’s a failure of the federal government to fully fund and execute the duties assigned to it, which is to maintain the United States Postal Service,” Lopez said.
To the alderman, confronting the failure of the federal government is the correct way to tackle the issue.
“To be honest, that’s the only take that matters because we know it’s more secure voting by mail than it is in person. Signatures have to be checked; there’s more verification on vote-by-mail than there is during in-person voting,” Lopez said.
Failure to act by both congressional “sides” will erode confidence in our electoral process, he said.
“While we are dealing with whether or not it should take 10 days for ballots to arrive, the only other way to deal with postal issues would be to have all polling locations be able to receive mail-in ballots in drop boxes, an easy fix for Illinois,” Lopez said.
Secure drop boxes are located throughout Illinois and can be found in county clerks’ offices, some colleges and court houses.
Anticipating any potential change in what constitutes a valid mail-in-ballot, the Chicago Board of Elections alerted voters during the March 2026 primary that early voting site drop boxes were available but that the post office would not guarantee vote-by-mail ballots would be postmarked the day they were dropped off.
To avoid risking a vote-by-mail ballot not being counted as valid in the November general election, the Chicago Board of Elections website details different ways to get your vote in on time, if an adverse court ruling wipes out grace periods for mail-in ballots.
Still, Porfirio assures voters that despite a potential changing of rules by the impending ruling, Illinois votes are safe.
“There’s so much security around voter fraud,” he said. “Vote-by-mail, voting on Election Day or early voting are secure and designed to give voice to Illinois voters.”